1Disclaimer: I forgot this in the prologue. I don't own Star Trek or BSG. I envy the lucky bastards who do.

Chapter

One

Are You Alive?

Roslin stood in the ship's command center, a large, rectangular screen showed the fleet. Beside her was a woman. She was tall, with short auburn hair, very elegant. She wore a uniform similar to her counterparts. The others looked up to her, followed her orders, saluted; she was obviously the one in charge.

But these people were not from the Colonies. Who were they? Where did they come from? Were they humano-Cylons?

The woman beside her was speaking... what was she saying? Roslin could not hear her. Something inside of her told her to trust these people. But how could she trust them when she doesn't know who they are or where they came from?

The woman beside her continued to speak. She was showing Roslin the ship's command center. The technology was... advanced. More so then the technology of the Colonials, or even the Cylons. Rudimentary buttons were nowhere to be seen, instead with touchscreen control panels. These humans were advanced. Advanced enough to meet others who were not human.

Just moments ago, she had seen a fellow with blue skin, and a large crevasse running down the center of the man's face, giving him an almost reptilian look.

Then she was somewhere else. A city. A town. Kobol? No. Caprica or any one of the colonies? No. This was somewhere else. Roslin looked up, and saw a sign: WELCOME WEARY TRAVELER TO FAIR HAVEN

Fair Haven? Roslin turned around, and saw a large archway, with an interconnecting door. The door opened, revealing the same black-grey wall pattern that dominated the place she was. She turned around again. And- what? There was no more "Fair Haven". She was now floating in space. Something was coming towards her from a large distance. It was- oh my gods- it was a Cylon raider. It was moving fast, and was no further than a few meters until-

"Madam President?" Someone nudged Roslin, waking her from her sleep. It was Billy Keikeiya, her most trusted aid. He was still very young, and full of energy. He was always willing to lend Roslin a hand whenever she needed it. He was involved with Chief Petty Officer Dualla. It was ever so obvious.

She opened her eyes, and looked around. She was not in a strange room with blue-skinned men, she was no longer in a strange town called Fair Haven. She was not attacked personally by a Cylon Raider.

She was in a leather chair on Colonial One, the seat reclined, her head resting on a small, white pillow, and a light brown blanket draped over her.

"Madam President," Keikeiya repeated "There's a phone call waiting for you in your office."

"Who is it?" Roslin asked.

"I'm not sure, they didn't leave a name."

"Male or female?"

"Female."

What time was it? Roslin sat up and craned her head to the left, looking at the clock above the doorway. It was one hour before noon.

She had been asleep for ten hours. The day prior, she visited the Rising Star and spent time with the civilians living on it. She had arrived at exactly noon, where she had lunch with its Captain, Simon Fields, and its executive officer, Thomas Ridge. She then spent the rest of the afternoon in the ships large, rotating atrium, chatting with everyone she met along the way.

She returned to Colonial One later that evening, took what little chamalla she had left, and went to sleep.

Roslin got up from her seat, gently pushing Billy out of the way. She parted the grey-clothed partition into her office, and stepped inside. On her desk was a white telephone, where a red light was flashing, indicating that there was a call waiting for her. She sat down behind her desk, and took a deep breath before answering.

She picked up the phone, and answered.

"This is Laura Roslin," she spoke slowly and quietly.

"Laura, darling, this is Ellen Tigh," came the reply, loud and uppity.

"Ellen, it's so good to hear from you." Roslin said, feigning an almost-equal enthusiasm. She was tired, and did not want to bother talking to anyone, especially Ellen Tigh.

"Thank you so much Laura. Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to come to the restaurant on Cloud Nine with Saul, Bill, and me for dinner tonight. We made reservations for six o'clock, and if you could join us, that would be great."

Dinner. Roslin's much needed rest was interrupted by an over-excited Colonel's wife with flirtation issues and an invitation to dinner. Roslin rubbed her forehead with her thumb and index finger.

"Thank you so much for the invitation, Ellen, but I have a previous engagement that I cannot possibly delay. I'm terribly sorry." Roslin said apologetically. In reality, she had no other engagement, she just wanted to sleep.

"That's too bad. Oh well, maybe another time, right Laura?"

"Yes, another time perhaps. Goodbye, Ellen."

"Ta-ta, Laura."

And with that, Roslin hung up the phone, leaned back in her chair, and looked at the ceiling.

"My Gods, I hate that woman." She said, speaking to no-one.

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When Ensign Kazuo Onishi arrived at the holodeck, he found that his holoprogram was already running. Had he pre-programmed the computer to play the program when he got off duty? That was more than likely the case. Kaz was tired, as he always was after working under the thumb of B'Elanna Torres in engineering for eight hours straight. It was for the better, Kaz thought, because the crew had to put in everything they had in order for them to get back to Earth.

Wearily, he made his way into the holodeck.

The program that was running involved a small town in mid-20th century America. The town was fictional, of course, with a small bar where the holodeck's entrance was. It was the main attraction for Kaz.

He entered the bar, and sat at his usual seat in the middle of the small room.

There was someone he had never seen before sitting at the bar. She was stunning: blond hair, a pert nose, a mischievous smile. What was she doing alone at the bar?

"'Ey, Kaz." Said one of the holographic characters, a bulky man who was balding. "Is that honey on the bar stool hitting on you?"

She was looking at him.

"Call in the referee," Kaz said, "'cause we're looking at a knockout."

The hologram protested playfully. "What could be more superficial than to make judgments from across the room?"

Kaz glanced across the smoky bar.

"Aw, she's got a great personality," Kaz said. "You can just tell."

"Yeah," said his friend. "I bet you love the way her personality fills that sexy red dress of hers."

And now the woman was walking toward him, daintily holding a cosmopolitan. He could not recognize her from a distance, but as she came up to Kaz's seat, he recognized her as Lieutenant Gina Godfrey, sixth in line for chief of xenobiology.

She pointed to an empty chair near Onishi. She sat down and placed her cocktail down on the table in front of her, then signaled a waitress for refills. "Ok, I don't usually do this, but I couldn't stand it over there, I swear the bartender here starts hitting on me. I mean, what's up with that?"

"I can't imagine," said Onishi, looking innocent. "Using my program to unwind?"

"Damn right," she said pointedly. "The work they're making us do in xeno is absolute bullshit."

Kazuo Onishi's holographic friend finished his beer and coughed. "I'm going to get a pack of Camels. You guys want anything?"

"No thanks," Onishi said.

After Kaz's friend left, the blonde turned to Onishi and made a face.

"You ever try Tarkallian Sobranie?"

"What?"

Godfrey opened the handbag she had with her and pulled out a metal tin. It contained a row of brown cigarettes with black tips. "Got it off some Ferengi on DS-Nine," she said. She handed him one. "Try it," she said. A lighter materialized in her hand as well.

Godfrey was good with her hands, Onishi thought as he took a deep drag. Promising.

"Come on, let's get out of here." She said.

The two left the bar and headed down the street, past several shops, and onto an expansive, hilly field. The two then collapsed onto the cool, green grass, the artificial moon glowing over the artificial town.

Kaz felt light headed. Dizzy.

She made a tsking noise of mock reproach. "Big hunk like you, laid low by Tarkallian Sobranie?"

Godfrey thought he was a big hunk? That was encouraging. A major positive data point in the multivariate mess that was his sex life. His grin became wider.

At the same time, he found his thoughts growing oddly scrambled, though he also found it hard to care.

One thought stood out in Onishi's mind. He was high as a kite, and there wasn't a thing anyone could do about it. What if the captain found out, though? Fuck it. It felt damn good.

"Come on, let's go somewhere people won't find us," she said. They made their way out of the holodeck, and into one of the Jeffries tube junctions two decks up.

Something inside him was saying, Maybe this isn't a good idea, Kaz, and he found he could do nothing but say yes.

They now sat together. Alone.

"Let me ask you something, Kaz," she said, rolling over on top of him, taking something out of her handbag, though Kaz did not see what it was. "Are you alive?"

Within a few moments, Kazuo Onishi's train of thought came to a violent end.